ASU coach Graham: Our players are excited for tough schedule

The Arizona State Sun Devils are set to play one of the more difficult out of conference schedules in the nation.

Following the home opener against Sacramento State, the Devils will host Wisconsin, travel to play Stanford, come back home to face USC and then head to Texas to take on Notre Dame in a neutral site contest.

It's a brutal stretch, but also one that, should the team survive, could set them up for a big season.

"Obviously that's not something that every year you'd want that kind of schedule, especially those first five ball games, but we're excited about it," ASU head coach Todd Graham told Sirius XM's College Sports Coast to Coast show "Obviously I've got a great belief in our football team and I really believe this team has an opportunity to compete for a Pac-12 championship so we're excited about the opportunity."

In fact, Graham said his players' want to play in big games, so they actually look forward to matchups like the ones ahead of them.

"Our philosophy is every year we want to have a marquee game," Graham said, noting how this year's slate features more than one. "I think our players want to play in those kind of games so I think they're excited about it.

"I can tell how our guys have prepared and how hard they're working this summer and this spring. They understand the challenge ahead of them."

Graham added his players seem to understand just how good they'll have to play to make it through that stretch with a good amount of success.